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"So, how are things?" The voice was startling, coming from complete silence.The large, green coated man turned around in his chair, a look of surprise on his face, quickly turning into disgust."What are you doing here?" He spat out, looking fed up already."Happy yet? You fill that hole deep inside you? Or do you still want more?"That was it. Standing up, he towered over the creature. "Look. If you got a problem with me, and what I'm doing, why haven't you used your 'quote unquote' powers to stop me?" Hand motions and all, he glared at the Lorax, seemingly mocking him, getting more and more frustrated as he went on.The Lorax paused, He was unsure on what to say, though he was quick to get interrupted one more, before a chance to say anything even appeared.He smirked at the silence, knowing he was correct. "Right, I forgot. You're a fraud. I need you to get out. Now." The Once-ler raised his voice, pointing towards the long, twisted staircase."Why? Do I make you uncomfortable? Remind you of the promises you made? The man you used to be?""You know what?" He started, glaring down at The Lorax, his eyes seeming to flare with anger. "You can just shut your mustache. My conscience is clear. I have done nothing illegal. I have my rights, and I intend to keep on biggering and biggering, and turning more Truffula trees into Thneeds." He took a deep breath, the man's voice raising and getting more alarming as he went on. Making his way down the stairs, he nearly stepped on and kept pushing the odd animal down and down until they finally reached the end. Acid scept from his voice, almost growling. "And nothing is going to stop me.""Don't you realize what's happening to you? You've been corrupted by greed." The Lorax cried out, honestly, scared. When of his height was yelling and almost screaming at someone so small, getting closer and closer, spewing venom in his words, it was hard not to be."If being 'corrupted by greed' means that I'll be successful and have people finally treat me with respect, then so be it." He straightened his back, now standing upright once again. His eyes meeting the Lorax's with an icy stare. "I'm finally adored, loved. I'm looked upon with high regard now. I'm finally someone.""Beanpole, you were always someone to us-" The creature started trying to reason with the man, maybe that would make him-"To 'us'?" He paused. What was he to say? Was that true? Did these animals really care that much about him- No, no no. It didn't matter. They didn't matter now. " To a bunch of forest creatures? Sorry buddy, but I'd rather have respect from my mother rather than respect from some singing fish, birds, bears, and- and whatever you are.""I'm- You're- Who even are you anymore?" The Lorax looked at him in defeat, it was an honest question. The young boy he had met five years ago seemed so different now."I'm" He gave a smirk, bending back down, eyeing the being that dared to confront him "The Once-ler, of course, Now, Leave." He straightened his stature, folding his arms, not bothering to look the other in the eyes."Fine. But I'm not giving up this easily.""Of course you're not. Get out now, or I'm calling security, you're still on my property."With that, The Lorax left back into the forest. What was there to do? Trees were being re-planted, but the forest was getting worse and worse, it wasn't enough. Brown Bar-ba-loots hardly had enough food to share between them all, Swomee-Swans were starting to loose their feathers, and the humming fish's water turned worse by the hour. He couldn't convince the animals to leave, it was still their home, they were in denial about the condition of the forest. As long as the truffula trees still stood, it was pointless. What could stop The Once-ler, then? There had to be something to make him realize what he was doing was wrong.There was only one option left.It was risky. Very, very risky.But what else was there to do?This would take up almost all of The Lorax's power, but if it meant saying the forest, it had to be done.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Kick.Suddenly, the young traveler was shot awake. What- Oh! Melvin."We're gonna be there soon, I'm sure it's just-" He stopped. Lifting up his hat, his eyes widened, "Whoa.."What was this place? Beautiful, never ending blue skies, vibrant green grass, clear rivers flowing through the valley, and hundreds- no, thousands of tall, truffula trees, swaying gracefully in the afternoon breeze.He held his guitar close to his chest, starting to tear up from this wonder of nature."This is the most beautiful place- Okay- I-I, I have ever seen."Suddenly, three little fish hop up in front of the boy, striking up a pose, and gesturing towards the grand plane behind them. "Taa-daa!" Then, jumping into a nearby pond, they began to hum a tune.All around, animals played and enjoying everything that this small world of their own, swomee-swans flew across the horizon and bar-ba-loots sat together with their friends and families.Melvin quickly dragged the cart down into the valley, both of the travelers excited to see what else this place held. Smiling widely, Once-ler hops out of the wagon, strumming his guitar, quickly to start playing a song."This is it!"Two of the bear-like creatures looked at each other in confusion."This is the place!""These truffula trees are just what I need."Hearing the music, many other bar-ba-loots follow the sound, coming upon Once-ler."Gonna chop one down, and make myself a Thneed.""But first-!"He didn't realize how careless his was, tossing all of his tools out of the wagon, he was just too distracted.THWACKAs he stands up, he accidently hits one of the bar-ba-loots with his guitar. Tossing it up into the air, he runs off, singing and dancing through the valley, followed by the curious animals"Na na, nanana na, na na nanana na" Once-ler sang, looking over to the creatures following him. "Now you!"The animals began to repeat after him, making him smile "That's great!"Na na nanana na Nana na nana na na na Bob-shoo-bop Bob-soo-bopSinging whatever came to his mind, he went to the back of the wagon, pulling out a spatula and singing into it"So now our friendship can begin~ Hand-and-hand and wing and fin"Once-ler goes back into the wagon, and begins unpacking, still dancing to his own song, tossing tools over his head."There's nothing you and I can't do, so let's make my dreams come true!"A saw, shovel, pruning shears, and an axe lay in front of different animals, then a hair trimmer bounces past, a tube of toothpaste lands in front of a Humming fish, then a mellet, causing the toothpaste to explode.The wagon was unpacked, and the oblivious Once-ler pulls out an axe, continuing to sing to himself and the animals. Instead of joining in the chorus like they did before, the angry mob of animals have all turned against the singing man."Hey, guys. Come on! Where's my backup chorus?"Bar-ba-loots growled, other animals picked up the tools that were tossed.Feeling threatened by the animals, he quickly turned back, searching for something to protect him. "Ah-ha!"Wait.His giant marshmallows.As a Bar-ba-loot lunged at him, Once-ler screamed like a girl, holding the sack up like a shield, the bag was ripped and marshmallows flew into the air, raining down onto the animals, quickly distracted them and calming them down as they ate them.He smiled, watching all of the creatures enjoying the sweet treat. While they weren't' paying attention, he slipped on his work gloved, and grabbed his large axe once more."Al right, here we go. About to make a Thneed, about the change the world"The animals now had all of their attention back on the man, staring at the shiny metal axe, and watch as Once-ler walked over to one of the Truffula trees.As he raised his axe, the animals grew scared.The axe cuts into the tree, with a sound that echoes through the whole valley. The tree creaks and moans as it falls, and hits the ground with a loud thud that seemingly shook the ground. The animals reacted in horror, what did he just do?Meanwhile, Once-ler stares at the tree, impressed."Check it out guys..wh- Huh?"He looks around, noticing all of the creatures were now gone."Oh, where'd everybody go?"He shrugs, then grabbing the tree by the trunk and starts to drag it away towards his small cottage.The animals investigate the stump, one of the humming-fish begins to pokes at it. Suddenly, the ground starts rumbling and shaking, all of the creatures quickly scatter off, scared at the movement. A loud noise and a flash of light followed a seemingly thunderstorm that shoot out of the stump. All of the animals, now far away, began to watch, confused.Wind shakes the valley, scaring all of the animals, until it stopped as soon as it appeared.The Lorax.He was short, orange, but in charge. Slowly, he stood up, and saw what was below him. The stump of a fallen tree."What the wh- Who the- Oh!"The animals collected rocks, and carefully placed them around the stump, creating a memorial. A smaller Bar-ba-loot saw the orange creature, and offered him a rock to put down. When they are done, they take a moment of silence for the stump. Pipsqueak walks over and takes hold of the Lorax's hand, while another Bar-ba-loot; a much larger one, grabs hold of the Lorax's other hand, starting to cry.Suddenly, sounds of whistling changed his focus from the tree, to a man. Seeing him ripping tufts from the fallen Truffula tree. Furrowing his brows in anger, he walks over to the man to investigate.Once-ler hums and sings to himself, plucking and picking each pink, soft tuft off of the tree, shaking them like pom-poms and tossing it into a pile."Hey!"Startled by the sudden voice, the man trips and falls to the ground, eyes wide."Did you chop down this tree?""What? Uh, no. Who did it?" Acting surprised, he quickly points in the other direction "What's that?!"The Lorax looks off, wanting to see what the man was freaking out about. Once-ler looked around, dropping the axe onto the small Bar-ba-loot next to him."I think he did it." He said, pointing at the animal on the ground. It was obvious the creature wasn't buying it, glaring at Once-ler."Leave! Vacate the premises! Take your axe and leave!"Squinting, Once-ler stood up, poking the fuzzy orange animal in the belly "Who are you?""What-what?! I'm- I'm the Lorax!"No response."I'm the guardian of the forest. I. I speak for the trees."Nothing."So you're telling me you just didn't see me magically appear out of that stump? With all of the lightning and thunder and stuff? You didn't see ANY of that?"No, but that sounds amazing. Can I see some of that?"Uh..Yeah, I could show you. But that's not how it works."Okay, um. Didn't really happen." Once-ler paused, suddenly realizing. "Oh, I know what you want!" He smiled, poking the Lorax's nose. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a marshmallow, holding it out to the creature. "I've got one of these for the cutteeessstt little guy I ever saaww~" He hummed out, baby-talking the 'guardian' of the forest "Yummy yummy yummy"The Lorax looked at the man, insulted "How dare you! He- Give me that." He grabbed the marshmallow, sniffing it. "Hm..Okay, I'm going to eat this, BUT I am highly offended by it. Popping it into his mouth, he started to talk over to Once-ler's tent-house, kicking out a stake that kept it into the ground."Whoa, wha are you- What?! Hey, mustache! Will you stop that?"The Lorax continued circling around the tent-house, pulling up stakes, Once-ler chased him around, and hammered each one back with his hammer."What's your deal, man?""Time for you to go, beanpole!"They circled faster and faster around the house, playing their game of cat and mouse."Pull 'em right out and I'm just gonna put 'em right back in. I can do this ALL day!"One more turn around the corner, Once-ler is about to bring his hammer down once more, until he suddenly stopped, realizing that the Lorax had placed Pipsqueak right where the stake would have been."Whoa! Stop right there. You would hammer one of nature's innocent creatures?" Patting the small cub on the head, he happily wandered off.Once-ler's eyes widened, horrified. "What?! No! I would never hit that little guy. You, on the other hand. I would GLADLY pound you and your mustache into the ground"The Lorax turns to all of the animals behind them who were watching, obvious trying to give them a show. "Behold the intruder and this violent ways! Shame on you. For shame"Sighing loudly, Once-ler put his hand on his forehead. "Okay" Looking over at the Lorax, he tried to calm himself down "I need these tufts for my Thneed""You're- Excuse me?""A. A Thneed- It's my invention. It's going to make me famous! Look- I can make it and show you!""Well- You already cut down the tree...Might as well do it then""I'll be right back!" Once-ler couldn't help but smile, grabbing the bag of the soft, pink tufts, quickly heading inside of his house.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
It took awhile, Once-ler wanted to make sure it was perfect. Once he was finished, it was too dark to hunt down the Lorax, so he just decided to show him tomorrow, besides, he needed a good night's rest.-Once-ler woke up to a loud snoring, turning around to see the Lorax next to him, quickly he shot up, yelling, only to get punched in the nose when the orange creature woke up."Uh- Ow. ow, that hurt. Um. What are you doing here?""Well i wanted to see your little invention but you were sleeping! So me, and the other animals kind of. Crashed here, hope you don't mind. Really, no harm done."Once-ler looked around his house, seeing the place in a mess. He signed, though, the Lorax was right, really, no harm done. He could just clean it all up once they left."It's about time, beanpole. So, let's take a look at your- whatever it was.""Thneed." He smiled, confident in his product. He held it up for the Lora to see, getting a little nervous when all he did was stare."You chopped down one of my trees to make that- that garbage? Just look at that!""Garbage? Oh no, oh NO! You do not get it.." "This is the revolutionary product that will change the world as we know it!""It has a million uses!" He reaches under the table, putting the thneed on a large Bar-ba-loot "Look at this! It's a swimsuit!"Quickly pulling it off, he moves to the floor, seeing the paw prints "Mud tracks all over your floor by uninvited guests? Well, the Thneed sure comes in handy for that! He smiled, wiping the tracks."But wait, there's more! Thanks to its all-natural micro-fibers, the Thneed is super absorbent!" Shoving the Thneed in glass of water, it instantly soaks up almost all the water, leaving one of the fish a little squished."It also works as a hat!" Once-ler said, plopping it onto the Lorax's head. It's still dripping wet, causing him to laugh awkwardly "Of course, you'd probably want to wring it out first, eh-""Go ahead, go ahead! Knock yourself out. But nobody is gonna buy that thing" Obviously not impressed, he glared at Once-ler."Oh- well, fortunately you're not exactly the target market." He sighed slightly, grabbing his guitar and strumming it."You're bringing a guitar?" The Lorax questioned."Oh, yeah! I got a little jingle that's gonna blow some minds, gonna sell some thneeds! Yeah.. I'm off! I'll show you, I'll sell one for sure!" He smiled, holding up the Thneed with confidence."Well, if you say so. Break a leg, kid."
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
The Lorax watched as the tall man left his house, off to sell his little thneed. He groaned, getting up and leaving the house as well, taking the animals with him, letting them wander around and live their life how they would normally.After everyone was safe, the Lorax went off on his own, visiting the stump of the fallen tree. Suddenly the sky turned dark, winds blew harshly, and he blacked out.The Lorax opened his eyes, only to see that he was- in front of a mirror? Rubbing his eyes, he tried to recover from the unexpected fainting.Soon he heard a voice come from the reflection, quickly realizing this was no mirror. "Good. You're up. Listen, that beanpole is bad news. He's going to become corrupt." Fear seemed to fill the other's eyes as he spoke."What? That can't be true, he seemed understanding." The Lorax was taken back, what did he mean, 'bad news', what could have become of him?"Anyone can change when greed takes over. Listen to me. This might be risky, but if it's the only thing we can do to save the forest. We must.""What are you implying?""Taking this Once-ler to see what he has become. Maybe the only thing that can stop him is himself."He paused. This had to be bad. "Is that the only option we have?""I'm afraid so.""What is it even like over there- How can. How could he have done something so bad?""The animals are hardly surviving. The air is filled with smog and the rivers are slimy and full of slop. Trees are being replanted but nearly not fast enough. Soon everything will be gone."Taking a deep breath, it was certain what they had to do. "Alright." "But what if we fail?""Then the forest will be gone. One day something is going to be taken too far, we need to stop it before that happens.""For the valley, for the forest.""For everyone and everything around."
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
It all happened so quickly. One minute he was sitting outside in the valley, humming to himself softly. Then, vision going white, everything changed.
Once Once-ler was able to see again, his sight was clouded by darkness. A quick inhale and he was put into a fit of coughs. Where was he..?
He shook his head, seeing that he was on his knees on the ground, his hands almost buried in the dirt and pale, dead-looking grass. The young man stood up, wiped his hands off on the sides of his pants, and looked at the ground behind him, it seemed as if he had fallen. Turning around now, he saw the trails of slid mud, and saw that, somehow, he came from a stump in the ground. Sudden realization shook through him, as his body straightened out, looking all around him. It was hard to see, but the skies were dark, the grass was grey, clouds and haze covered the area and all around there were stumps. Where the hell WAS he?
A voice came through, interrupting his thoughts. As he looked down, he realized it came from the Lorax. Quickly he moved down, squatting in front of the guardian. “Lorax! What’s going on? Where are we-”
“This, young Once-ler, is what you are soon to do.” He sighed, motioning to the earth around them.
“What?!” he jumped back in surprise. What was he talking about?
“I will explain in a moment. Right now, you’re the only one who can cause this or end this.” Before Once-ler could get another word in, he was stopped once more. “Come with me, quickly.”
It was very off-putting to see the Lorax act so serious. But with the forest looking the way it does, it was to be expected. Seeing the Lorax run off, he took after him, almost running. It was hard to breathe, but he tried his best to make it through.
Suddenly, they stopped.
A huge factory stood in front of them, towering through the wasteland.
“Where are we?”
“The Thneed Factory. We’ve off to see the boss.”
“What the he-- wait up!” Off he was again, Once-ler followed him through the factory. Now they were sprinting. Up the oddly twisted staircase, through the seemingly never-ending, long hallways, past the workers who he didn’t have enough time to see what they were doing, straight to two large doors, “The Once-ler” written across them in fancy lettering. The Lorax pushed the open, and stormed through the entrance. Once-ler following close behind.
“Hey
beanpole
!” The orange creature next to him yelled, he was taken back, confused. Was he yelling at him? What did he do?
The young man scanned the room he was so suddenly dragged into. It was an odd shaped room, circular. Very large, as well. A huge red chair caught his attention almost immediately. Raising an eyebrow, he took a step foreward, looking down at the Lorax, and back up at the chair, only to see it turn around.
“Mustache, how nice of you to visit” Once-ler laid his eyes on the man in the chair, eyes growing wide, almost falling back in shock.
It looked just like him.
Paler; though. Hair cut shorter as well. But other than that…
The man was wearing an outfit of black and green. A large top hat placed on top of his head, shimmering glasses adorned his face; which he took off, eyes now shooting open. His face mimicked the other, staring in awe. Suddenly his confusion turned to anger, glaring down at the Lorax. “What is this. What did you do?”
Once-ler could only stand there, everything hit him like a ton of bricks. He remembered what the Lorax had said. ‘This is what you’re soon to do’. He caused this. It was him; the valley’s destruction was because of him. He now fell back, hitting the floor, hand on his forehead, trying to understand what was going on. He couldn’t hear anything, everything was fuzz, only being able to understand his own rapid thoughts flashing through his head.
The only thing that snapped him out of it was steps creaking softly against the floorboards. Black dresses shoes were now in front of him. He looked up, seeing the other man leaning down, looking him in the eyes. “So, he’s going to..stop me?” Standing straight up again, he brought his fist to his mouth, chuckling. “Cute. But I don’t see how that would work.”
He looked over at the Lorax, seeing that he was noticeably angry.
Once-ler shook his head, standing back up, locking eyes with himself. It was odd to see him like this. The way he carried himself was so much difference. He could see the confidence the other had, just from his stance. “Can...Can I get a full explanation now?”
“You became popular, famous. Rich. It all got to your head. You now no longer care about what happens to the creatures around. Just getting more Thneeds sold.” He shot a look at the business man, glaring at him.
The man just shrugged, putting his hand in his pocket, pulling out a golden watch and checking the time. “As interesting as this is, I need to get going soon.” He said as he stuck the pocket watch back in the pouch.
“Wait!” Once-ler blurted out. “How long am I going to be here? What can I do? What’s going on? There are two of me!! That’s REALLY confusing! I mean, ho-”
Tapping his chin, the other man thought. “That is a good point..There are two of us.” He removed his hand from his face, moving it to his chest. “How about
I
am
The
Once-ler. You..You can be
Oncie.
”
‘Oncie’ crossed his arms, pouting. “What?? You can’t be serious.” Looking down at the Lorax, he gave him a look, as if saying ‘can you believe this’
“Well, it works for both of you. For me; how about beanpole and green bean?” The Lorax snickered at his own joke, obviously amused by this whole scenario, even though it was extremely odd.
“Argh!” Unfolding his arms, he slouched, groaning. “I..I guess I can deal with it.”
“Good. Now this has been fun and all but I need to-”
“What about me?” Oncie asked.
“Wh- What
about
you?” The Once-ler replied, raising an eyebrow.
“What do I do...Where do I go? I just got shoved into this place..”
“Ah, yes. I suppose that’s a good point. We can’t just have lil’ ol Oncie wandering about, now can we?” He smirked at the other, laughing softly to himself.
The other stomped his foot on the ground, tapping it; annoyed. “Wh- I..Shut up!” He groaned. God, how could he turn into such a dick. Was..he normally like this?
“You will stay in my room. No ifs, ands or buts. Now, follow me.” The Once-ler quickly stepped past them both, head held high and- stopping to turn around, glancing at the other who was supposed to be following him, motioning for him. “Come on now, I don’t bite.” He joked,
his lips started to pull up in that wicked, devilish smirk, that made a chill run up the back of Oncie’s spine. Others probably would have viewed it as a ‘sexy crooked smile’, but he knew better. The way his mouth slowly moved upward, making lines where is mouth and cheek connected. It was like he was trying to
scare
him.
Oncie hesitated, but decided it was in his best interest to move forward, following the other. He took a few steps forward, waiting for The Once-ler to lead him to where he was needed- er, requested to go.
“Thhaaatt’s more like it!” The other dragged out his words as he began walking again. It was almost hypnotizing the way he walked. He downright strutted as he made his way through the hallways.
His coat tails billowing out behind him, lapels wide and sharp, top hat giving his already perfect posture that little added height. The levels of confidence and self-righteousness emanating off his strong figure were extremely apparent. It was so weird to see such a large building, the hallways creating seemingly twisted and never-ending paths. Who designed this…? Of course, he was sure once someone got used to it it wouldn’t be so bad, but everything was so off-putting. Being tossed into the future? Seeing yourself and what you’ve become? Why are you, him; so- so..so chill with having yourself, another you...another HIM…- God this was insane! The poor boy was overflowing with thoughts. They were all around him, drowning him in a sea, grabbing his arms and making sure he couldn’t gasp for air. How many years in the future is he? What all else has changed? He seems more confident- does..does mom
know?
How rich is he? For god's sake there is another fucking version of him from the past WHY IS HE SO CALM?
He didn’t even notice what was going on, where they were going, what the other was doing; anything. Suddenly he let out a noise of surprise, realizing that he had just bumped into the back of The Once-ler, he almost tripped, but caught himself before he fell.
Shooting him a glare, The Once-ler moved away from the door, going behind Oncie, patting him on the back. “Well, in you go. I’m sure the room is to your liking, after all, I designed it.” He let go, leaning against the wall, tapping a finger on his cheek. “I guess we can call this our room; I’ll have to see if I can get another mattress for you. It’s gonna be hard to ask..Maybe I have one somewhere else-” He stopped, holding his arms out and shrugging, eyes closed. “Ah, oh well. I guess it doesn’t really matter.” His eyes opened, narrowing at the younger man. “Well, hurry up! We can’t have you standing here forever. Just keep quiet. No one can know about you.”
Oncie stood there, listening to, and watching the man. He bit his lip nervously, opening the door to the bedroom, and walking in. The door shut behind him and he heard footsteps echo through the halls, getting quieter and quieter with each passing moment. He sighed, leaning against the door. He first looked at the floor. Everything was neat; tidy. Odd, normally stuff was a little messy. Oh- maids? Maybe. He pushed himself off of the door and started to look around. God- This bedroom was as big as his house. It was very elegant too. He had to admit- it was something he would dream of. He walked around the room, humming to himself, running his fingers across the walls slightly. It really was to his liking- well. Of course it was. Heh..That was kinda dumb to say. Oncie inhaled deeply, letting out a loud sigh as he walked over his- um. His? God this was weird- bed. He sat down, surprised on just how
soft
it was. The mattress, the sheets, blankets- pillows..everything. “Holy shit..” He mumbled out.
As he layed down on the bed, thoughts rushed at him once again. One question that was repeated, however, was just simply.
“How long am I going to be here?”